During his UFC welterweight title reign, Georges (Rush) St. Pierre displayed what it meant to be a true champion. When he announced his indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts, he showed other fighters how to gracefully walk away from the limelight.

Since combat-sports history is littered with fighters who stayed too long, St. Pierre’s semi-retirement is a breath of fresh air.

Though this message may prove to be lost on some, it’s a sentiment often shared by Ronda (Rowdy) Rousey. In past interviews the UFC women’s bantamweight champion has made it clear that when the time comes to retire, she has an exit strategy.

Though the 2008 Olympic judo bronze medal winner is a relatively new name in MMA, she has been competing at a high level most of her life. She knows the risks associated with stepping into the cage and putting it all on the line.

Ahead of her second UFC title defence, against Miesha Tate, in the co-main event of UFC 168 in Las Vegas Dec. 28, Rousey said St. Pierre only has to justify his hiatus to himself. No one else has the right to tell him to fight if his heart isn’t in it.

“Georges had just passed the record for most time ever spent in the octagon,” Rousey said on a media call Tuesday. “He just broke a record. No one else has spent as much time as him ever in the octagon before. So can you really blame him for feeling like he was done? Because no one else has reached that point yet.

“So I don’t think it’s reasonable for us to expect him to do more. If he wanted to do more, that would be awesome, break that record even more. But if he feels like he’s done, then that’s fine, man. Be done and go rest. You deserve it. You don’t have to risk your life for anyone.”

St. Pierre’s reasons for bowing out may never be fully known, but he did indicate during a recent conference call that the burden of being champion became too much to bear. He also expressed his desire to lead a “normal life” for a while.

Truthfully, few fighters will ever know what it’s like to walk around with a target on their back for as long as the Montreal fighter, who holds the record for victories in UFC title fights at 12.

Rousey may only be entering her second year as UFC champion, but she’s also carried an intense weight on her shoulders in terms of promotion and media. She’s arguably the most visible fighter in MMA today.

Rousey said there is nothing “normal” about being a high-profile fighter.

“Yeah, we’re not really doing 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” Rousey began. “If you fight for a living, you’re fighting for your life every time you go in there. It’s a stressful situation, if you think about it. The worse thing that could happen in a day isn’t that someone got your latte wrong or you could get fired, it’s that you could be physically harmed. It’s not just that, you’re pride could be irrevocably harmed, as well.

“That’s a lot of stress to face time and time again. It’s so much that you really have to have a love and desire for what you do. You can’t really fight and put your life on the line for anyone other than yourself. Every single time a new fight comes along, you need to ask yourself whether you still want that.”

Of course, if any fighter can relate to St. Pierre, it’s Anderson (The Spider) Silva, who held the UFC middleweight championship for almost seven years.

Silva will aim to regain the title when he faces Chris Weidman in the headliner of UFC 168.

When he lost the belt via devastating KO to the former NCAA Division I wrestler earlier this year, Silva seemed relieved his run had finally come to an end. The Brazilian openly discussed the burden of being champion and claimed he was done fighting for titles. However, it didn’t take long for him to have a change of heart and accept another crack at Weidman.

Silva said St. Pierre deserves respect not only for walking away from the sport, but for how he carried himself during his storied career.

“I think that everyone knows their right timing and the moment they’re living,” Silva said though a translator on the call. “You have to respect Georges St. Pierre for everything he’s done in the sport. If he feels like this is the correct time, we have to respect him. Everyone knows their time they have to retire or take a moment to step away, so, you gotta respect it.”

HOW TO WATCH UFC 168

Sat., Dec. 28.

PAY-PER-VIEW (10 p.m. ET)

Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva

Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate

Josh Barnett vs. Travis Browne

Fabricio Camoes vs. Jim Miller

Diego Brandao vs. Dustin Poirier

SPORTSNET 360 (8 p.m. ET)

Uriah Hall vs. Chris Leben

Michael Johnson vs. Gleison Tibau

Manny Gamburyan vs. Dennis Siver

Siyar Bahadurzada vs. John Howard

FACEBOOK/YOUTUBE (7 p.m. ET)

William Macario vs. Bobby Voelker

Estevan Payan vs. Robert Peralta

WOODLEY GETS CONDIT FIGHT

If you want something in life, you’ve got to relentlessly harass people via text message until you get it.

Though this strategy may earn you the scorn of some, it appears to have paid off for Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley, who will now meet Carlos (Natural Born Killer) Condit at UFC 171 in Dallas March 15.

After Condit’s scheduled bout with Matt Brown fell apart, Woodley executed what should henceforth be referred to as “Operation: Spam Dana White’s Cellphone,” firing a torrent of text messages to the UFC president.

A Strikeforce import, Woodley’s most recent outing saw him earn Knockout of the Night honours for his starching of Josh Koscheck last month.

Condit recently snapped a two-fight skid, picking up a TKO win over Martin Kampmann in August.

FLYWEIGHTS ADDED TO CARD

An intriguing flyweight fight has been booked for the UFC’s annual Super Bowl weekend card.

John (Hands of Stone) Lineker will battle Ali (Puncher King) Bagautinov at UFC 169 Feb. 1 in Newark, N.J. The show will be headlined by a bantamweight title unification fight between Dominick Cruz and Renan Pegado.

Though he’s put together an impressive 4-1 run under the UFC banner, Lineker has failed to make weight in three of his octagon appearances. He has since aligned himself with nutrition guru Mike Dolce.

The Brazilian’s most recent outing saw him score a TKO win over Phil Harris in October.

As for Bagautinov, the Dagestan native is 2-0 since joining the UFC roster, with victories over Marcos Vinicius and Timothy Elliott.

MARSHALL SUSPENDED

Doug (The Rhino) Marshall has tested positive for a banned substance.

The former WEC light-heavyweight champion recently came up short in his bid to capture the Bellator middleweight title, suffering a first-round knockout loss to Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 109 last month.

TheMMAReport.com confirmed with Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission executive director Gregory Sirb that Marshall failed his post-fight drug test and has since been suspended.

However, as per PSAC policy, Sirb did not disclose which substance Marshall was flagged for, nor did not reveal the length of the fighter’s suspension.

Marshall earned a shot at Shlemenko by conquering the season nine middleweight tournament, picking up victories over Andreas Spang, Sultan Aliev and Brett Cooper.

GRICE HAS SKULL SURGERY

UFC featherweight Matt (The Real One) Grice has undergone successful surgery to replace a piece of his skull.

“Not sure if I was in a @ufc fight Friday or had another brain surgery lol. My eyes can’t tell,” Grice tweeted (tinyurl.com/grice-skull).

The Oklahoma City police officer underwent life-saving brain surgery in September after he was struck from behind by a van while stopped at a red light in Shawnee, Okla. Doctors removed a portion of his skull and put him in a medically induced coma, where his condition continued to improve. He was later discharged from hospital to undergo outpatient physical therapy.

During a November appearance on The MMA hour, Grice discussed his miraculous recovery.

“One of the nurses in rehab, she was looking at my chart, she said, ‘You’re just a walking miracle. Reading your chart and talking to you, I can’t even explain how much of a miracle you are to be where you’re at,’” Grice said. “I’m just blessed by God to be moving like I am.”